For most of the last 45 years — apart from a brief appearance at a costume party at which it was ripped and had food, wine and blood spilled on it — Princess Leia’s white dress from the final scene of “Star Wars” was lying crunched up in a plastic bag in a London home.
Now fully restored, the iconic gown is going up for public auction for the first time and is expected to fetch at least $2 million.
The medieval-style dress worn by Carrie Fisher in 1977’s “Star Wars: A New Hope” is the only Princess Leia outfit from that film which has ever been discovered.
“When I was first told about the dress, I simply couldn’t believe it,” props collector Stephen Lane told The Post. “I’ve been collecting for 30 years and I think it’s one of the most exciting finds of my career.”
It had been kept by a member of the British crew as a memento, while many of the other costumes from the film were thrown away.
Lane was given the tip about the dress by a fellow collector 10 years ago.
“Collectors had been searching for nearly 40 years and everyone had come to the conclusion that it didn’t exist anymore. No one had found any Princess Leia costumes,” he recalled. “But then I went to meet this former crew member and hanging on the back of a door in his office was this ratty old plastic bag — and balled up in the bottom of the plastic bag was the dress. It was in a really poor condition but instantly recognizable, partly because of the belt.
“It all came out grubby and torn, but it was also astonishing because it was clear that it was the real thing.”
The silk dress was designed by John Mollo, who won an Oscar for the film, and made by leading costume house Bermans and Nathans in conjunction with a French dressmaker.
The script described how Princess Leia was a “vision in white,” as director and writer George Lucas wanted her to symbolize purity.
As the movie was not expected to be a hit, many crew members took items home after it finished filming at Pinewood Studios.
For decades, the dress gathered cobwebs in the crew member’s loft until it was worn — and badly damaged — by a friend who borrowed it for a costume party.
The first thing Lane did when he got the dress was take it to professional restorers Janie Lightfood, which was recommended by the Victoria and Albert Museum.
“They are used to working with tapestries that are hundreds of years old and are the experts when it comes to textile conservation,” Lane said. “BAs part of the process, they had to analyze all the marks on the garment — and found food, wine, and even blood.
“We did all wonder, ‘What kind of party was this?’”
The dress was also ripped.
“It has sort of cover that goes over the arms and is a little restrictive as it stops you raising your arms over shoulder height. But whoever wore it at the party must have waved their arms around because that was all torn,” Lane said.
All told, the dress needed a 10-month restoration process costing thousands of dollars.
At that time, Lane sold the dress to a private collection. It’s now the centerpiece of a multi-million dollar movie auction organized by Stephen’s company Propstore in Los Angeles next month and is valued at between $1 million and $2 million, although it could go for much more than that.
The most expensive movie dress ever sold is Marilyn Monroe’s white subway grate dress from 1955’s “The Seven Year Itch,” which went for $4.6 million in 2011.
Other items for sale in the online and in-person three-day auction include the Batpod vehicle from 2008 film “The Dark Knight,” which could also fetch $2 million; costumes from “Gladiator” and “Blade Runner”; and the clown doll from “Poltergeist,” which is estimated to go for $400,000. For more information, go to https://propstore.com/liveauction.
